Eastern Conference
#1 Washington Capitals vs. #8 New York Rangers
The Capitals have a history of being a great regular season team, but never being able to make the push to go the distance in the playoffs. This year will be more of the same. They have a favorable matchup in the first round, but after that, it doesn’t look good for the Capitals.
For the Rangers, Henrik Lundqvist will have to be big for his team. The playoffs are all about hot goaltending. If the Rangers want to make it past the first round, Lundqvist will have to keep his team in games.
Semyon Varlomov and Michal Neuvirth have been very inconsistent for the Capitals, but the team has allowed 36 fewer goals than last year. They are becoming a more defensive-minded team rather than the offensive powerhouse we are all used to seeing. This will serve them well in the first round as they will beat the Rangers.
Prediction: Washington wins series 4-2
#2 Philadelphia Flyers vs. #7 Buffalo Sabres
Philadelphia led the Eastern Conference for a good chunk of the season, but they have a 3-4-3 record in their last 10 games. Jeff Carter is seventh in the league in scoring with 36 goals. The Flyers will look to him and Claude Giroux to make a repeat run to the Stanley Cup Finals.
On the other side, Ryan Miller had a disappointing season for the Buffalo Sabres. He had seven fewer wins than last season, and his GAA was 2.59 this season as opposed to 2.22 last season.
Philadelphia was third in goals for with 259 behind Vancouver and Detroit. The firepower of the Flyers will be too much for Ryan Miller and the Sabres to handle.
Prediction: Philadelphia wins series 4-1
#3 Boston Bruins vs. #6 Montreal Canadiens
Tim Thomas was absolutely outstanding for the Bruins this season. He led the league in GAA with 2.00 and save percentage with .938. If he continues to ride this hot streak, the Bruins have a legitimate shot at making the Stanley Cup Finals.
However, the Canadiens have a hot goaltender of their own in Carey Price. He was tied for the league lead in wins (38) this season with Roberto Luongo. The Canadiens’ big weakness is their inability to score. They were ranked 21st in the league with 2.6 goals per game.
The Canadiens upset the Capitals last year as a No. 8 seed, but they will not get the upset this year. Thomas will continue his dominance in the playoffs.
Predication: Boston wins series 4-2
#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #5 Tampa Bay Lightning
The Penguins will be without Evgeni Malkin, and haven’t had Sidney Crosby in the lineup since Jan. 5. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports coach Dan Bylsma is not optimistic Crosby will return for the start of the playoffs.
The team is 23-13-5 without Crosby, but the Penguins can’t make a long playoff run without him.
Meanwhile, the Lightning started out strong, but had a horrific March with a 5-6-4 record. They picked things up in April winning four out of five games. Dwayne Roloson has been hot and cold since being acquired by the Lightning at the beginning of 2011. He had four shutouts with the Lightning, but also gave up as many as seven goals against the Sabres.
Without Crosby and Malkin, this Penguins team isn’t the same. Steven Stamkos and the Lightning take this one.
Prediction: Tampa Bay wins series 4-3
Western Conference
#1 Vancouver Canucks vs. #8 Chicago Blackhawks
Bad news for the Canucks. They have been eliminated by the Blackhawks in the playoffs the past two years. The Canucks are just like the Capitals. Great regular season team, but can’t seem to get over the hump in the playoffs.
Chicago’s Corey Crawford has been outstanding. The rookie goaltender had 33 wins with a 2.30 GAA and .917 save percentage. Despite losing a good chunk of their team for salary cap purposes, Chicago still has the tools to go the distance.
Chicago pulls off the huge upset in this one. The Blackhawks were lucky just to get into the playoffs as Minnesota defeated Dallas in the final regular season game. They will play with a sense of urgency that Vancouver can’t match.
Prediction: Chicago wins series 4-2
#2 San Jose Sharks vs. #7 Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings made an early exit from the playoffs last year when they were bounced by Vancouver in six games. Unfortunately, they face a streaking San Jose team that has Antti Niemi (previously with the 2010 Stanley Cup Champion Blackhawks) as their goaltender.
Since February, the Sharks have a 23-6-3 record. They have the second best power play at 23.5 percent. They made a deep run to the Western Conference Finals last year, but were swept by the Blackhawks.
The Kings lost their star Anze Kopitar to an ankle injury, which is a huge blow to this team. They already have trouble scoring (ranked 25th at 2.5 goals per game) and losing one of their top goal scorers isn’t going to help.
Jonathan Quick had another fantastic season with a 2.24 GAA. However, the blistering Sharks will be too much for Quick and the Kings to handle.
Prediction: San Jose wins series 4-1
#3 Detroit Red Wings vs. #6 Phoenix Coyotes
The Red Wings and Coyotes meet in the first round of the playoffs for the second consecutive year. The Red Wings prevailed, but it took seven grueling games to decide a winner.
The Red Wings have made the playoffs for the 20th consecutive time. However, they haven’t played all that well recently with a 4-4-2 record in the past 10 games. They have a better road record (26-11-4) than home record (21-14-6).
The Coyotes will rely on goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov to keep their deep playoff hopes alive. He was fifth in the league with 36 wins.
Despite Detroit’s home record, the tight win against a dangerous Blackhawks team during the final regular season game will propel them to a victory against the Coyotes for the second time in two years.
Prediction: Detroit wins series 4-2
#4 Anaheim Ducks vs. #5 Nashville Predators
Anaheim’s Corey Perry led the league in scoring with 50 goals. Teemu Selanne has been playing like his early days with 31 goals and 49 assists. These two will be a force to be reckoned with.
Nashville isn’t a great goal-scoring team, but they are great at keeping the puck out of the net. They were third in the league with a 2.3 goals allowed per game. Pekka Rinne was third in the league with a 2.12 GAA and second in save percentage with .930.
Great scoring meets great goaltending in this series. This will be a hard-fought battle that goes down to the wire. In the end, the firepower of the Ducks will prevail against the Predators.
Prediction: Anaheim wins series 4-3
Tom Mitsos - Tom Mitsos currently works at The Grand Rapids Press as a copy editor for the sports department. Contact Tom at tommitsos@gmail.com.
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